I’ve never actually bought the Angry Birds game(s) on the iPhone even though I’ve had the phone for over two years now. Even if you don’t have the game, or an iPhone, you’ve undoubtedly heard about Angry Birds. They’re everywhere, infecting every store, advertisement, clothes, and nearly everything in between. My nine year old nephew, who doesn’t have an iPod, iPad, or iPhone, still is in love with the game (he plays on my parents iPad), and he loves everything Angry Birds. Needless to say, it was an avian Christmas this year for him, and one gift he received was the Angry Birds card game. I’ve played the game a few times with him and our family and thought to myself, “You know who should know about this game? Anyone that reads my blog, that’s who!” Here’s a review of the card game that is surprisingly fun and easy to play.
The basis of the game is to be the first one to eliminate your hand of cards and defeat the King Pig. Below are the Bird cards:
Representing the types of birds you fling in the actual game, these cards are dealt to each player at the beginning of the game. Each player gets six cards and they are laid out in front of you in a pillar (or two pillars to save room). Players take turn rolling two specially crafted die to eliminate the birds from their pillar (or castle as the game calls them). You MUST eliminate the birds in order of appearance, so even though you rolled a yellow bird, you have to eliminate the white one first before you can take it out. The “x2” card means you have to have two of any bird appearing on your dice to remove it.
The above picture shows the dice used during the game, as well as the King Pig. Once a player has eliminated every card from their castle/pillar, they take on the King Pig. The cardboard King Pig is placed at least two feet away from you, and you actually have to flick one of the die on the ground to knock him over to claim victory. This is pretty fun, as it puts a nice spin on the traditional card game rules. Knock the Pig over and you win!
Making the game a bit more interesting are power-up cards:
These cards have special rules and are kept in your hand so other players don’t see them. Acting like the power-up cards in most other card games like Uno or Monopoly Deal, these cards can make or break a game. They are as follows:
Boom: Allows you to remove any bird card from your castle
No Slingshot: Doesn’t allow a player to roll the dice or flick a die at the King Pig
+1: Gives any player another card (which is taken from the top of the Bird card pile)
Green Pig: Give any of your own x2 Pig cards in your pillar to any other player
Reroll: Let’s you re-roll your dice, OR make an opponent re-roll their dice (Can be used to knock down Pig)
The power-up cards are a fun addition to the game, and make things a bit more interesting. Some of them become useless later in the game though, such as the Green Pig (which can’t do anything if you don’t have a x2 card). Players start the game with two of these cards in their hand, and can only play one per turn. Also, if a player can’t do anything on their turn (i.e. they don’t eliminate any birds with their die roll or they fail to knock down the king pig, and they do not use a power-up card on their turn, they can draw another card from the power-up card pile).
Overall I found the Angry Birds card game to be fun. It’s an easy game, but that makes it perfect for my younger nephew, and it’s also easy to play, which makes it accessible for my older family members to enjoy. I got a kick out of flicking the die at the King Pig in order to win (and I got pretty good at it myself). Though I’ve never really played the actual game that inspired this card game, I can say that this card game spin-off is a fun, if not short gaming experience that is worth checking out. Games last between 5-10 minutes or more depending on how many players are playing.
I can just hear the wacky birds bellowing now…
Laters,
Jsick
